


Sold Down the River

by gemspegasus



Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Angst, Complete, Friendship, Gen, PG-13, Violence, for language, hurt/comfort., mistreatment of a child and woman. Action-adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-28
Updated: 2010-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemspegasus/pseuds/gemspegasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in “Working Girls” and “China Town” Chris sends Nathan and Ezra to the Seminole Village.  Nathan is to deliver medicine and stay in the village for a few days while Ezra is supposed to check on the Seminole’s cannon before heading out to Albuquerque for a poker tournament.  Ezra never makes it to the tournament. He is kidnapped and tortured by a group of former slaves.  A slave girl and two of the Seminole children who was also abducted try to help him. Nathan goes to his rescue after learning of Ezra’s plight. Meanwhile, one of the other Seminoles rides to town to get the other peace keepers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sold Down The River Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired be this prompt, “Ezra/Nathan strong. When Ez first met Nate he was prejudiced against him and vice versa so I thought it a good idea for Ezra to be kidnapped and made to suffer by a gang of ex-slaves and have Nathan as the only other one having to come to his rescue (maybe based not long after they met and the other 5 could be out of town at first). There could be a girl who develops feelings for Ezra who manages to sneak out to warn Nate of his predicament.” by Jeanette at the magnificent gunfighters and gamblers group. Thanks to Kristen for naming Ezra’s horse and NotTasha for naming Nathan’s horse.
> 
> Spoilers: For season 1 episodes, “The Ghosts of the Confederacy” and “Working Girls.” For Season 2 episodes, “Achilles,” though in this story Achilles and his gang is messing with Ezra rather than J.D. & Season 2 episode, “China Town.”
> 
> Disclaimer: The Seven don't belong to me. I'm only saddling them up for a 'ride' or 7. I will return them to MGM, Mirisch, Trilogy and John Watson when we're done. Not mine. No copyright infringement intended. This was written for fun only. No profit made.

An involuntary scream tore through Ezra’s bruised throat and out of his bloodied mouth as the rawhide whip once again flayed his exposed and bare back. The whip had struck hard against his dislocated shoulder. A spread-eagled Ezra slumped in between the two trees to which he had been tied to earlier in the day.

“Twenty two,” a man kept count of the lashings as he beat on a drum.

“Three more lashes and then stop. We still want him alive to ‘play’ with later,” commanded the leader of his kidnappers.  
“Can we drag him behind one of the horses, again?” Another man asked.

The drone of the men’s’ voices washed over Ezra whose mind had drifted away from the pain of his body to the remembrance of how this day had begun.

~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~

Ezra finished his cup of coffee as he heard last minute instructions from Mr. Larabee concerning the cannon located at the Seminole Village. Acknowledging Chris with a two-finger salute, Ezra then reminded Chris that after doing his duty with the Seminole Village and leaving Mr. Jackson there to gather ingredients for medicines, he Ezra would be heading out to Albuquerque for the poker tournament being held there.

Chris had grunted and said, He’d expect Ezra back within two weeks.

Ezra nodded then strode through the bat-wing doors of the saloon and headed to the livery. He rapidly readied Chaucer to ride and had just mounted his horse when Mr. Dunne stopped by on the way to the jail.

J.D. wished him a good morning and notified him that Mr. Jackson was running behind schedule because he had a man with a sprained wrist come to see him this morning. He and Ezra were still chatting when Nathan arrived at the stables.

The healer thanked J.D. for saddling his horse, Badger. He mounted Badger and he and Ezra tipped their hats at J.D. before riding out of town.

It was for the most part a quiet, tense ride to the village. Ezra and Nathan hardly spoke on the ride out. Mr. Jackson was still upset with Ezra over the incident with Li Pong. Yes, she had spent the night in his room but he had been a gentlemen. But Mr. Jackson had gotten worked up about it just as he had been angry about the working girls from Wickes Town. Ezra had understood Mr. Jackson’s position but it was clear that Mr. Jackson had not understood his. The Southerner would not turn Li Pong out because he suspected she would have spent the night in front of his doorway which was not a place for a Lady to sleep. When the Railroad debacle was cleared up, Ezra had given Li Pong funds to start a new life in California. With the ladies of Wickes Towne, he had thought he could help the ladies by enabling them to procure a more secure future. And he in turn would get a small commission in a marriage brokering service between them and a select number of gentlemen looking for brides. But Ezra’s plan had been for naught as all the ladies had left for San Francisco.

Tastanagi, the Seminole leader, Rain and two of the children, Dyami and Kohana greeted the two regulators as they arrived at the Seminole village.

Rain offered Ezra a cheery hello and a quick smile before she walked off with Nathan.

Ezra chatted with the boys as the boys took Chaucer to the corral. Ezra then walked over to the abode housing the Seminoles’ cannon. He studied it and with a sigh, he saw that it needed to be cleaned. Moments later, Ezra’s green jacket and honey comb vest hung on a sturdy branch. He then rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt high on his forearms in preparation to clean the antiquated weapon.

Minutes later, Dyami was at Ezra’s side asking him all kinds of questions about the cannon and what Ezra was doing.

“Mr. Ezra, where did you learn about cannons? Mr. Ezra how do you clean the wheels?...”

~~~~~~~End flashback~~~~~~~

“Mr. Ezra, come on, we need to get you untied and away from these trees before the bad men come back,” urged the young Indian boy as he worked to unravel the rope on Ezra’s right wrist. Abigail, a beautiful mulatto girl wrestled with the twine on the left hand.

Abigail crooned softly as Ezra sagged into her when Dyami knelt to undo the captive gambler’s bound legs.

“Dyami?” Ezra slurred through his bloodied and split lip. A puffy, swollen jade green eye squinted at the blurry figure in front of him.

“Yes, Enapay it’s me.” Dyami answered and continued, “Come we must hurry away from here.” He then slung one of Ezra’s arms around his slim shoulders.

Abigail did the same with Ezra’s other arm.

The gambler stumbled to his feet.

The three captives then lurched and staggered towards the least crowded fringe of the camp. Dark red splotches of blood marked their erratic trail. With Abigail and Dyami’s help, Ezra maneuvered himself into the most comfortable position he could find on the ground.

A grunt of pain escaped Ezra as Abigail tenderly and gently cleansed his face with a rag made of the hem from her already tattered shirt.

Sorrowful honey brown eyes gazed down at Ezra and recalled how this white, Southern man had bravely defended her and the other captives against “Achilles” gang.

But he had been outnumbered from the onset and had been overpowered by the gang of ex-slaves.

~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~

Abigail slid quietly through the sage bushes dotting the ledge, her slender form quickly weaving her way forward. Suddenly dropping down to her haunches in the shadow of a big boulder, she spotted the fancy dressed, white man riding out of the Indian village.

A black man and two Indian boys were riding beside him.

The two men were talking.

She was too far away to hear what they said but the white man in the green jacket tipped his hat to the other man as the black man turned his horse around and rode away into the canyon behind the village. Continuing to watch, she noted that the boys chatted on with the man as their horses trotted a piece up the trail. Finally, the boys waved goodbye to the man and disappeared around a bend in the road.

Silently, Abigail moved deeper behind the boulder. She froze in her crouch as she saw the man wave back at the children before stopping his horse. He then tilted his head up and scanned the ledge upon which she was perched. There was no way he could see her. She was well hidden behind the big rock. But still she didn’t move a muscle as the man stared hard at the ledge for a few minutes more. Suddenly a roadrunner darted out in front of the boulder, running full tilt down the ledge face and into the trail a few yards ahead of the man and horse. The man chuckled softly to himself and touched his knees to his horse’s flank.

The chestnut horse once again began trotting down the road and had passed her hiding place a few minutes later.

Abigail waited several more minutes before scampering off the ledge and headed in the direction in which the Indian boys had gone. She came upon Achilles’s brother, Hector and his friend Morris about to shoot the two boys. In an outrage, Abigail yelled at them “What in blazes do you think you’re doing? You don’t shoot children!”

Morris, a weasel-faced white man whined that the boys wouldn’t tell them where the gold mine was.

Hector nodded in agreement with Morris.

The three began to argue loudly.

Meanwhile the two boys glanced at each other. Then they began to move backwards cautiously and slowly but both Dyami and Kohana stopped when both boys felt hands with iron grips clamp down hard on their shoulders.


	2. Sold Down The River chapter 2

Achilles’s smooth yet cold voice spoke. “Hector, who do we have here?”

Hector looked his twin brother squarely in the eye and responded, “These Seminole brats don’t want to give us the location of the gold mine here about these parts.”

“I am sure we can think of a way to persuade them into telling us where it us,” Achilles said confidently and applied a little more pressure onto Dyami’s shoulder before stepping away from the boy. The former solider grabbed Abigail’s arm and hauled her in front of him.

Ezra hummed, “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” as he rode towards Ridge City. The gambler was happily contemplating the upcoming poker tournament. He anticipated that the games of chance would be lucrative and worthy of his skill. His thoughts were interrupted by a woman’s scream.

The mountains and canyons surrounding Ezra echoed the scream around him making it difficult for Ezra to pinpoint the exact location of the woman in distress. Ezra’s head whipped from side to side to determine from what direction the scream had emanated.

Another scream rent the air. This time it was a boy’s scream.

Chaucer pivoted around and veered slightly to the right.

Ezra knew that voice. It belonged to Dyami, the Seminole Chief’s son.

The woman shouted out again and her cry blended with the boy’s yell.

Chaucer skidded to a halt at his rider’s command.

Ezra dismounted fluidly and quickly ground tied his horse at the small copse of trees before he cautiously headed into the denser group of trees clustering this area between the canyons.

His gun drawn, the gambler crept cautiously through the trees until he flattened himself against a thick tree trunk. He peeked between two gnarled limbs of the tree and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him.

A young woman with a trickle of blood flowing down her throat was held be a burly ex slave while another ex-slave held a long, thin knife at the young woman’s throat and nicked another cut in flesh.

Then Ezra’s eyes were drawn to the man he assumed was the leader of this band of miscreants. Ezra saw the leader and the two boys standing to one side of the others.

A wicked looking Bowie knife hilt slashed across Kohana’s left fore arm.

Dyami bit the dark-skinned hand still attached to the knife. His head was jerked and yanked upwards by a rough grip.

Achilles snarled and bent down to slap the boy hard. As he loomed over the boy a bullet creased the edge of his dark blue sleeve. His head snapped up and he barked out, “Boys go hunting.”

Morris, Hector and a couple of other men swarmed toward the trees while Ezra slipped behind a larger tree.

Ezra couldn’t believe he’d missed.

The man must have the devil’s luck.

With his free hand, Ezra grabbed a fistful of pebbles from those that surrounded the tree. With all his strength, he threw the stones in the opposite direction from which he was located. As he expected and hoped, the pebbles pinged and clattered against those trees.

Most of the gang looking for him headed in the direction of the noise.

Ezra scurried toward the horses. If he could reach the horses and… The gambler’s thoughts faded when he was hit on the head from behind by the butt of a pistol.

Kohana and Dyami watched in horrified silence as their friend, Mr. Ezra was dragged into the clearing.

Blood flowed down one side of the gambler’s face.

Achilles arched an eyebrow at Hector.

Hector shrugged and said, “Hit his head on a rock when he fell after I struck him.”

Achilles nodded and ordered Abigail to tend him because he wanted some answers and he wanted them soon.

Once Achilles instructed Abigail to see to their prisoner, he ordered Hector to call the rest of the men back to the camp.

Hector bobbed his head and let out a series of whistles.

As he tore a strip off of his shirt to clean Kohana’s wounds, Dyami was angered to hear those whistles sounding so much like natural bird calls.

 

~~~~~~~ End Flashback~~~~~~~


	3. Sold Down The River chapter 3

Meanwhile back in the Seminole village, Nathan was busy gathering herbs into his pouch. The dark-skinned man grumbled to himself about a certain Southern gambler he knew. He muttered under his breath as he also thought of Josiah Sanchez. Josiah had spoken to him about his attitude toward the gambler andLi Pong. Ezra had freed her from the tyrant of her uncle and helped her go to San Francisco. Sanchez also reminded Nathan about his yelling at Ezra in the church over the incident of the Wickes working girls. Could he be wrong about Ezra’s motives with both Li Pong and the working girls? Could Ezra want to help those girls into more decent lives than the ones they had? Josiah’s words rang through the healer’s mind as he pulled up roots and leaves to use for medicines.

A moment later, the pouch slapped shut against his side when two gunshots rang out. A quick glance behind him confirmed the gunfire wasn’t in the village proper. Another shot sounded and Nathan took off at a dead run.

Dang it! It sounded like it was coming from the canyon to which the two Seminole boys headed out to earlier this morning. Sure wish Ezra was still here to back me up. Hell, Standish had more guns on him than an armory and knew how to shoot to boot. Nathan thought to himself. He zigzagged across the ridge above the canyon, hoping to see what the trouble was.

He dropped to his knees and stared in horrified fascination at the sight which met his eyes.

What had that fool of a gambler gotten himself into? Nathan asked mentally as he watched three burly men manhandle Ezra.

The three men stripped Ezra of his hat, coat, vest, and guns.

Ezra wrestled against the rope binding his hands and dragged his feet until the men began to tie a boy to another horse.

Squinting because of the sun, it took several moments for Nathan to realize who that boy was.

The boy was Tastanagi’s son, Dyami. Dyami writhed and wriggled against his captors but was still held tightly within the men’s hold.

Ezra managed to move close to Dyami and the miscreants tying the boy to the horse. Suddenly Ezra’s left leg lashed out and kicked one of the gang members hard on the man’s solar plexus.

Morris was so startled by the kick he fell back head over heels.

As soon as Dyami was free of Morris’s hold, he slipped from his other captor’s now loosened hold and ran away from the men and horses as fast as he could. He ran to Kohana’s side and glared at the blue uniformed leader of the ex-slaves.

“Enough!” Achilles shouted angrily.

“Let the boy be, I’ll see to him later,” continued Achilles as he saw one of his men ready to shoot Dyami.

Achilles circled around Ezra and said, “You! You are a troublemaker, a smart one it seems but you can’t win against me and my men. I am Achilles. Like my namesake, I am invulnerable and can’t be killed. Several attempts on my life have failed as your attempt did today.”

Ezra refrained from answering and thought, but your namesake did have a weakness. I’ll just have to be like Paris and find your “Achilles heel.”

Nathan scrambled off the ridge he was on at the same time that the leader smacked the rump of the horse that Ezra was now tied to.

Ezra jerked forward.

Nathan had a glimmer of an idea. He would need to get the Seminoles’ help. And get one of them to ride to town to get the others but he couldn’t wait for the others or it might be too late for Ezra and the children.

The healer’s run back to the village halted as Tastanagi and several of the other Seminole braves galloped up on their horses to meet him. Nathan explained what he had just seen and what his idea was.

Tastangi, the Seminole chief did not like Nathan’s plan but he knew that time was short and they needed to act now to help Ezra, Dyami and Kohana. So the chief ordered Apenimon to ride to Four Corners and two other of the braves to gather what the healer needed for his ruse.

Abigail, Dyami and Kohana watched in terrified silence as the horse dragged Ezra across the canyon. At first, Ezra stumbled after the horse, keeping up with the horse’s gait but after the animal’s pace increased the fourth time, Ezra was unable to rise from the canyon floor.

Rocks and cactus spines slashed through the gambler’s upper body, leaving many cuts and abrasions. Sand filled the open wounds with each pass of the horse through the canyon.

After Achilles ordered his men to stop the horse dragging. He ordered the gambler to be whipped. He sneered and said, “Give the boy a dose of Southerner hospitality.”

Meanwhile on the road near the canyon, Nathan Jackson adjusted his saddlebag more comfortably over his shoulder and felt the satchel resting on his opposite hip thump against his leg. His stride quickened the closer he got to his goal.

“Hello, the camp!” He called out as he approached the entrance to the canyon. He had seen the two dark-skinned, mean looking men posted as guards.

Those guards now approached him with the barrels of their rifles pointed directly at him.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” The more muscular man snarled into Nathan’s face.

“Name’s Nathan Jackson. Lost my horse getting away from a lynch mob. Been walking for a spell now and thought the canyon would be a good place to rest up a bit.”

 

The two guards made Nathan slowly turn around in a circle.

Gideon, the bigger guard studied the ex-slave in front of him. He noticed the rope marks around the man’s neck and the scars along the wrists. But what had Gideon most intrigued about Jackson was the full and well-cared knife sheath strapped against Jackson’s back. The big man thought the unit could always use another skilled fighter. But his thoughts didn’t matter. Best get the man whose thoughts did matter. Gideon ordered the other guard to get Achilles. He and Jackson would wait for them where they were.

The smaller man nodded and trotted off to get their leader.

Achilles scowled at the interruption of the ‘entertainment’ but it was coming to a close. He called off the whipping and listened to the guard while his other men jeered about continuing to beat the white, southern man. Once Achilles had heard the guard’s tale, he ordered his men to follow him. They all went to meet Gideon and their newest ‘guest’, Nathan Jackson.

Nathan had cajoled Gideon into allowing him to put his saddlebag down on the ground and to let him look at the nasty looking gash on the beefy man’s arm.

Achilles and the others came upon Nathan Jackson tending to Gideon’s sore arm.

Achilles raised an eyebrow in question.

The big guard squirmed under his leader’s look and answered the man’s silent question.

“I leaned too far into one of those prickly cactus bushes this morning and some of their thorns got me good. It’s been aching something fierce since then. Was gonna get it looked at after my guard duty.”

Achilles nodded and carefully watched Nathan as the healer finished wrapping up the gash on the arm of one of his best men.

Nathan patted the dressing down one last time and then looked up and straight at Achilles.

Achilles and Nathan stared at each other for long moments until the silence was finally broken by the outlaw leader.

“Well it looks like the least we can do for you is get you a cup of coffee and offer you a place for your bedroll for the night.”


	4. Sold Down The River chapter 4

Nathan picked up his saddlebag and waited for Achilles to lead everyone back into the camp. He didn’t show his unease when Achilles indicated that he wanted Nathan to walk by his side. Jackson correctly figured out that the outlaw leader was going to question him.

Achilles cocked his head in Nathan’s direction and asked, “So, Mr. Jackson, my men tell me you were almost lynched?”

Nathan replied, “Yup. It happened in a small town about half a day’s ride from here. I do a bit of healing and a herd trail boss had gangrene. Couldn’t save him and his trail hands decided to lynch me. Luckily for me, Chris Larabee and his gang got to town right at that moment. They distracted the cowboys from what they aimed to do and I got away.”

 

“So how long have you been out here? What’s the name of that town?” Achilles asked. He then sat down on a hollowed out log in the center of a circle of hollowed out logs and stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankle.

After dropping his gear on the ground once again, the healer stretched his body and rolled his neck. While doing so, Nathan risked a look around the camp, finally spotting Ezra, Dyami and a girl he didn’t know on the fringes of the group, far away from Achilles and the logs as the trio could get. Ezra looks bad, the healer thought to himself as he nonchalantly sat himself down on the log. “It happened yesterday in Four Corners. Mind if I ask you why you want to know?”

Achilles motioned one of his men to pour some coffee for him and for Nathan. Once both men had full tin cups in their hands, Achilles responded, “Heard Chris Larabee is a like an ornery rattlesnake, quick and deadly. Do you know if he was just passing through this place of Four Corners? And how many men were with him?”

Nathan immediately replied that he had heard Chris Larabee and his six men were going to lay low and hole up in the town for a while.

“Reckon it would be best if we avoid the town then and just do the job we came to do,” Achilles said.

Nathan bit his cheek to keep from asking what job Achilles referred to. He had survived slavery and war. He wasn’t risking being killed now because he could not contain his curiosity.

 

Thompson dismissed him and Nathan rose, gathered his belongings and headed off toward the outskirts of the camp, looking for just the right spot to lay his bedroll for the night. He chose a spot across from where Ezra, the boys and the young woman were. Smoothing his bedroll down as best he could, he anxiously glanced over and gritted his teeth with reined in anger. These louts had not only beaten Ezra half-dead but they had knifed one of the boys, Kohana. Nathan knew the marks knives made when slashed against skin.

Kohana’s arm bore those marks and the boy’s wounded forearm was red and inflamed.

The boy could lose his arm thought Nathan and before he knew it he found himself kneeling before the very surprised child gently cleaning the infected limb.

Abigail, Dyami and Kohana were all startled by Nathan’s presence.

Ezra was unaware of the healer’s presence because he was unconscious.

Abigail was stunned. This man was the one that she had seen Ezra with earlier today. Why was he here? She watched him as he gently finished bandaging the boy’s arm. Then she stared in fascination as Nathan turned his attention toward Ezra.

“Cone on now boy, wake up!” Nathan whispered harshly. He repeated the whisper and lightly touched Ezra’s less injured shoulder.

Right then, Morris walked by and chuckled at the thought of that Southerner dandy being Jackson’s slave. A thought struck the weasel-faced man and he blurted out, “Why ya tryin’ to wake him for?

Thinking quickly, Nathan replied, “We crossed paths in a town not long ago where I treated him and he skipped town before he paid me.”

Morris nodded in understanding and then continued on his way until he plopped down next to his good friend, Hector.

Hector leaned over and asked Morris what had just happened between him and the new man in camp.

While the two outlaws conversed quietly, Nathan was able to rouse Ezra.

Ezra awoke disoriented and in pain. Green eyes blinked in confusion as the Southerner looked at the blurry form crouching down next to him. He asked in a bewildered tone of voice, “Mr. Jackson?

“Yeah, it’s me, Ezra,” Nathan answered.

A befuddled Ezra tried to rise from the ground into a sitting position. “How did you?...” The rest of what he wanted to ask was cut off as he struggled to breathe.

As Ezra stared wide-eyed at him, Nathan gently steadied him into a sitting position and replied, “No talking, just breathe slowly and calmly just like I’m doing.”

Ezra relaxed slightly and followed the healer’s example. Once his breathing settled down, he caught hold of Nathan’s wrists.

Nathan looked down at the Southerner and said, “What?”

“Captured too?” Ezra asked.

Nathan blinked in surprise as he caught the worry in Ezra’s eyes. There was no mistaking the concern for him lurking in both the gambler’s gaze and voice.

“No. Just watching your back is all. I’ve got a plan and I sent word to the others.” Nathan whispered as he pulled off the tattered remains of Ezra’s shirt so he could inspect the lash marks on Ezra’s back more closely.

It was now Ezra’s turn to be startled by what Nathan said. His eyes blinked slowly as his mind constantly repeated, “watching your back.”

“They sure cleaned your plow.”* Nathan continued as he got a good look at the whipping which the gambler had received.

Ezra tried to follow Mr. Jackson’s words but his body was aching all over and his head was pounding fiercely. So when he heard Nathan mention a plow, he mumbled, “plan - no farming,” before he slumped down against Nathan’s shoulder, exhausted.

The healer bit off an involuntary chuckle and laid the Southerner flat on a thin blanket covering the ground. He asked Dyami to turn Ezra’s head to the side so Ezra could still breathe while he unpacked some herbs and salves that he kept in his saddlebag.

Meanwhile, Abigail tore strips off of a petticoat she never used any more, for bandages.

Before the healer could start cleaning and curing Ezra’s welts, Hector moseyed over to him and stared suspiciously at him.

“Why are you tending to him?” Let him rot.” Hector sneered.

“I want the money he owes me. And he can’t pay me if he’s dead, can he?” Nathan replied a bit brusquely.

Hector saw the Southerner’s eyes flick open slightly and the dandy pull away from the healer. The bearded ex-slave switched his attention to Ezra and asked disdainfully, “So boy, this true? You owe this man?” Hector, then tilted his head in Nathan’s direction and impatiently waited for Ezra’s answer.

Ezra had been roused out of his drowsy stupor upon first hearing the ex-slave’s harsh voice. He responded without hesitation, “Yes I owe him.” He was telling the truth. Ezra was indebted to Mr. Jackson but not in the way the miscreant thought.

Nathan’s startled deep brown eyes locked onto Ezra’s profile and the thought, “You do?” flashed through his mind

The fancy man’s words had a ring of truth to them,” fumed Hector to himself which meant that the recently arrived Jackson wasn’t lying. And Hector wouldn’t be able to brand Jackson as a liar to his brother Achilles. A disgusted Hector kicked out hard at Ezra’s ankle, before pivoting and walking away from the pair.

Unaware of or uncaring of the venomous look that the healer shot his way, Hector continued walking away until he met his brother at the center campfire.

“He doesn’t like us.” Ezra said in a raspy breath and pulled Nathan’s attention back onto the injured man.

“”Not important right now, Don’t talk. Save your strength.” Nathan replied as he crouched down by Ezra’s side and went to work cleaning and tending to Ezra’s wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cleaned your plow: to give or get a good whipping.  
> Old west slang found here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poindexterfamily/OldWestSlang.html


	5. Sold down the river chapter 5

A little while later, Nathan sat on his bedroll, sipping at his cup of coffee and surveyed the camp. His lips thinned as he saw Dyami and Kohanna huddled together on a thin blanket being guarded by one of Achilles men who was armed and glaring at the boys. Abigail had been watching over a slumbering Ezra but had just been dragged off to do the camp’s laundering. Nathan’s gaze swung back around to the gambler and it appeared Ezra was coming to. The healer finished his coffee then rose and stretched before casually stepping across to Ezra’s bedroll.

Ezra blinked bleary eyes at the healer until the brown blob came into focus. Finally he croaked out, “Mr. Jackson?”

“Dang it, the fever’s started.” Nathan thought to himself as he felt the heat radiating off the gambler’s skin. “Yeah, Ezra. It’s me. Drink this tea for the fever. It’ll help it go down some.”

Ezra scrunched up his nose at the first taste of the concoction. “Horse piss.” He complained after the first sip.

“Yup.” Nathan replied as he steadily held the cup to Ezra’ lips.

Ezra swallowed a few more sips of the vile brew before turning his head away.

Nathan nodded to himself as he put the cup aside. About to turn Ezra over to check his back, Nathan spotted both Achilles and Hector heading their way. A low curse escaped the ex-slave’s lips.

Ezra immediately asked, “what’s wrong?”

Nathan told him that both the Thompson brothers were walking straight toward them.

Ezra ‘ eyes narrowed in anger and pain. He hissed out, Get me standing.”

Nathan began to protest then took a look at Ezra’ set face and remembered what it felt like to face the man who had you whipped. Without another word, Nathan helped Ezra to his feet, before Achilles and Hector descended upon them.

The Southerner clenched his teeth and swayed slightly as he stood. He hurt all over but he would not face his captors laying down again. When Nathan propped him against the side of the wagon near their bedrolls, Ezra gave the healer a pained smile before the gambler’s face dropped into his inscrutable poker face.

 

Hector and Achilles grinned maliciously as they stopped at the edge of Ezra’s bedroll. Before either man could say anything, Ezra addressed Achilles. With his Southern drawl more pronounced, Ezra said, “You know you are destined to kill Hector.”

A stupefied expression crossed both Achilles and Hector’s faces.

Nathan just stared at Ezra with a “what are you up to?” look on his face while Achilles glared and sputtered in outrage at the gambler’s remark.

Achilles snapped out, “What are you talking about?”

Ezra gazed from one brother to the other and blithely continued, “in the epic tale from Greek mythology, Homer’s “Lliad” your namesake killed Hector’s namesake. You have heard of it, have you not? Perhaps your education did not extend to mythology. Your mother’s choice of appellations for the both of you is ironic, however.” Never losing eye contact with the Thompson brothers, Ezra braced his battered body the best he could when he saw Achilles stride forward and aim his gun straight as Ezra’s chest.

As Achilles raised his arm to shoot the gambler, a furious, petite form darted in front the Southerner. Abigail had had enough of Achilles. She had left Kansas after the mess with John Brown because Achilles had promised her a better life. Boy howdy, had she ever been wrong about the former Union solider. “What’s the matter with you, Achilles Thompson? Can’t you see he’s off his head with fever? Why you payin’ mind to those fancy words of his? Ain’t you got enough troubles in Kansas, you want to add more to em’ here?" Abigail yelled out and poked an angry hand in Achilles’ chest.

Everyone froze in shock at Abigail’s outburst.

Nathan recovered first adding, “She’s right. He’s off his head burning up with fever and delirious.”

Ezra shot the healer an indignant look which Nathan ignored.

Hector walked away in disgust after Achilles dragged Abigail to his tent.

Once they were alone again, Nathan hissed out a warning for Ezra not to do anything foolish again because surely Chris and the others would surely be at the camp soon. “And I don’t want to tell Chris you got your fool head or any other body part blown off cause you were mouthin’ off.”

Ezra’s legs threatened to buckle underneath him and he swayed slightly but then was held up by Nathan who had immediately come to Ezra’s side.

“Distraction, so you could escape in the melee.” Ezra mumbled as he leaned heavily into the healer.

A few minutes later, Ezra once again laid down face first on his bedroll with Nathan’s old shirt for a pillow. Nathan dragged his bedroll over next to Ezra’s and said. “I am not leaving ya behind.”

A warmth spread through Ezra’s chest as he realized Nathan truly meant those words.


	6. Sold Down the River chapter 6

Meanwhile, Chris, the others and a group of Seminole braves had arrived. They all had fanned themselves out in strategic positions behind trees, shrubs and boulders within the canyon.

Crouching low behind a boulder, Chris had almost pulled the trigger on Achilles when the dark-skinned man had aimed his gun at Ezra. Then the girl had stormed in between Achilles and Ezra and began her tirade which had stilled Chris’s trigger finger for now.

One of the Seminole braves, Apenimon had circled around until he was behind a shrub nearest to Dyami and Kohana. His eyes darkened as he looked at the boys and saw that Kohana was wounded. He made a bird call which the boys recognized. They immediately pestered the man who was guarding them. He waved them over to the bushes and returned his attention to the shouting match between Abigail and Achilles.

The boys walked casually around the bushes which Apenimon had hidden behind. The brave and the boys quickly and quietly ran away from the camp. They knew they didn’t have long before someone in the camp would notice that the boys were missing.

Apenimon and the boys ran past J.D. who nodded to them before returning his sight to camp in front of him.

J.D. had both of his guns drawn and waited. Two men chasing after the escaped boys came crashing through the shrubs and both men fell mortally wounded to the ground when J.D. took aim and shot them.

More gunfire boomed and arrows flew throughout all of the canyon as Chris Larabee charged into the camp, his gun smoking as he fired, fired again and again, deadly accurate as always. Flanking Chris on his right and left side, Vin and Buck strode a step behind Chris. Vin’s Mare Leg and Buck’s Colt 45 were also spewing bullets and death upon those who had kidnapped one of their own.

In the uproar and confusion, Josiah hurried to Nathan’s side and they managed to drag Ezra clear to safety.

Achilles rushed out of his tent and stared horrified at what he saw. More than half of his men were dead. Others were fighting off Indians attacking them. Others were running away.

“Cowards! Achilles shouted and then an angry yell of “No!” as he saw Hector crumple to the ground from a gunshot wound and his brother didn’t move after he fell.

Achilles fired his gun blindly in Hector’s direction and heard a grunt of pain. It was his own as three bullets entered his own body. He spun around and collapsed dead as he hit the ground.

Nathan hollered to Chris that Achilles had been the leader.

Chris stalked over to the man and kicked him with the toe of his boot to confirm that Achilles was really dead.

He was.

J.D. bounded into the center of camp with a trussed up and wounded prisoner. He reported that Apenimon and the boys had ridden away toward the Seminole village.

Smiles and whoops of joy burst from the other Seminole braves as they heard the news.

One of the braves had released Abigail from the shackles in Achilles tent and began to tend to her because she was bleeding out from a knife gash to her leg. The brave laid her on one of the wagons brought to the camp and left the other empty wagon for the peacekeepers. Once a now sleeping Abigail was settled in the back of the wagon, the Seminoles left for their village.

Buck, Vin and J.D. rounded up all the live prisoners and using the gang’s chains and shackles against them tied them up to a copse of prickly, rough-barked trees.

Once that was done, they joined Chris, Josiah and Nathan who were circled around Ezra’s bedroll.

Ezra had passed out when Nathan and Josiah had moved him away from the mayhem occurring in the camp. The gambler was finally regaining consciousness. Six familiar and trusted voices filtered through his waking mind.

Ezra rasped out, “Safe?” as he peeled his eyes open and slightly squinted at the blurry figures around him. A sigh escaped him as he spotted the darker blur off to his right side.

Chris and Nathan both answered yes to the question.

A tired Southern drawl replied, “good,” Ezra’s eyes began to droop again when they suddenly opened again. “Ride to Alb’qr’que?” he groaned.

Six fondly exasperated laughs filled the air and then Chris responded,

“No Ezra, we’re taking you home to Four Corners.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> All the characters of The Magnificent Seven and "The Ghosts of the Confederacy" belong to the above-mentioned but since they didn't name all of the Seminoles, I used creative license and named some of the Seminoles Ezra interacted with in GOTC. 'Dyami' is the boy that Ezra is spinning around at the end of GOTC. 'Kohana' is the second boy that Ezra pulls onto his lap and asks the boy about the goldmine.. 'Apenimon' is the Indian holding Ezra's reins during Ezra's goodbye to Dyami in GOTC's final minutes. 'Dyami' means eagle. 'Kohana' means swift. 'Apenimon' means worthy of trust. 'Enapay' means brave. Hector and Morris (name taken from Achilles transcript at blackraptor) are two men in the beginning of the Achilles episode trying to rob the bank. In April 1892, Fred Gilbert wrote a popular song, “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo.” Using creative license, imagine he wrote it in the 1870s, thus allowing Ezra to hum the tune to himself.


End file.
